What does the word Sabah mean in Malaysian lingo and policy

Over the course of this editorial, we will be presenting you an explanation and documentation as to the latest and greatest reason for the value and meaning of the word Sabah in Malaysia. The intensity of events over the past few weeks were unprecedented in our modern-day global economic and diplomatic world, and yet the response from the global community has been equally unprecedented in muteness and coverage.

	We wondered very carefully as to what would cause Malaysia, a state that has been garnering close ties with its ASEAN friends, to turn that attainment around so quickly and alienate its ASEAN neighbors by deporting and abusing their citizens living in Sabah?
	We also wondered what would cause Malaysia to inflamingly jeopardize a prosperous economic setup in Sabah and cause the companies there to loose valuable production when their Filipino and Indonesian workers were deported swiftly and mercilessly out of Sabah, without supplying these companies with replacement workers to pick up the slack?
	We wondered out loud what lunatic Malaysian Prime Minister would callously deport, starve, rape, and cause the deaths of its fellow Muslim brethren who have historical rights to belong in Sabah?
	We wondered suspiciously as to why Malaysia would ominously elicit the ire of two sovereign governments and its people, namely The Philippines and Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, and not show any remorse for it?
	What could possibly drive a nation to the brink of war, in order to accomplish such an empirical goal?
	What lies beneath all the urgency to deport these Filipino citizens out of Sabah?

Well, we can only muster one defining answer to the above questions – OIL!!! Lot and lots of OIL!

We all know what’s been happening in the Middle East for decades, and the governments who want to control the flow and access to the oil. Well, literally speaking, Malaysia is jealously trying to create its own abundance of oil wells through its state-owned oil and gas corporation - Petronas - much like its billionaire friend the Sultan of Brunei. It will undoubtedly achieve its goal at the expense of its internal nemesis, the Sultanate of Sulu! Who cares about the lowly Tausugs and their brand of Islamic beliefs? To deplore them like pigs wallowing in bloody mud is highly substantiated by the hypocrite Prime Minister …. The thickness and wealth of oil is much thicker than the blood of their Muslim brothers and sisters, the poor Tausugs and their lost Sabah.

We wanted to get proof of our strong suspicion, even though we believed it to be 99% true! However, we had to be responsible and try to present evidence in order to substantiate our belief. So, after embarking on a fact-finding mission, hoping it would not take a lot of effort or sentimental preponderance ala Malacañang-style, and the result came up in just a few seconds of searching! Right there in front of our eyes was the proof we were looking for! Well, well, well...: we'll let you absorb the report below first:

Press Release: Tuesday July 30, 2002 4:39 pm Eastern Time

SOURCE: Murphy Oil Corporation

Murphy Oil Announces Significant Oil Discovery in Deepwater Malaysia ( in Sabah! )

EL DORADO, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 30, 2002--Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR - News; TSX:MUR.U) announced today that its subsidiary, Murphy Sabah Oil Co., Ltd., has drilled a significant oil discovery on the Kikeh prospect located on Block K, offshore Sabah Malaysia.

"We are immensely pleased with this discovery," says Claiborne P. Deming, Murphy Oil President and Chief Executive Officer. "This well encountered several hundred feet of high quality oil reservoirs. The structure covers a large area and we plan to immediately move the rig to drill an appraisal location to help determine the size of this discovery."

Located in almost 4,400 feet of water, the Kikeh discovery lies in the southern part of Block K and is the first deepwater oil discovery made in Malaysia (Sabah). Murphy, as operator, has an 80% interest in Block K and adjoining Block H, which combined, cover over six million acres. Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned exploration and production arm of Petronas (Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas corporation), holds the remaining 20% interest.

"We believe that the offshore deepwater margin of Sabah has tremendous prospectivity," adds Deming, "and with this discovery and our inventory of prospects, we are strategically positioned to develop this new frontier."

The forward-looking statements reflected in this release are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. No assurance can be given that the results discussed herein will be attained and certain important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially are contained in Murphy's January 15, 1997 Form 8-K report on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

Murphy Oil Corporation, El Dorado Investor Relations: Mindy West, 870/864-6315

Public Relations: Betty LeBrescu, 870-864-6222 http://www.murphyoilcorp.com

The magnitude of this Sabah Oil find sent loud reverberations all the way to Wall Street where Murphy Oil Corp.'s shares went up more than $12.00 per share the next day! It is a chilling reminder of the importance oil plays in our global economy, and the sad reality of what values we place on the deaths and rape of innocent Filipino children. It is this sudden American company oil find that caused serious alarm amongst Petronas' legalese, and forced them to act ruthlessly in deporting their Filipino Muslim workers in Sabah, along with all the other undesirables, in order to swiftly and conclusively own the claim to Sabah and the new found oil! They did not want the Sultanate of Sulu and their Philippine representatives to hold their incriminating evidence of tenancy, in the form of annual rent checks, in front of their greedy faces and cancel the contract, then take ownership of the oil and the land. The outcome would be much different if the deportees' citizenship were American.

Below is the latest snapshot of Murphy Oil Corp.'s stock chart, showing the spike from its Sabah Oil find, and the rise in value of its stock as investors show their preference for the end result.

EL DORADO, Ark., Aug 01, 2002 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Murphy Oil Corp. shares shot up more than $12 (see spike on stock chart below) Wednesday after a deep-water drilling rig hit oil in the company's promising exploration area off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia.

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We wanted to try and get a better historical perspective on this whole Murphy deal, so we dug a little deeper ( no pun intended fellas! ) and found this article that shows the beginning of the reason for Malaysia's new-found greed and resolve to get rid of any trace of doubt as to who owns Oil-Rich Sabah!

Murphy Acquires Additional Acreage in Malaysia

Murphy Oil & Gas Friday, March 09, 2001

Murphy Oil Corporation is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Murphy Sabah Oil Company, Ltd. ("Murphy Sabah"), has completed a Farm-In Agreement to acquire Esso Exploration & Production Sabah Limited's entire 80-percent interest in Block H offshore Sabah, Malaysia. Esso Exploration & Production Sabah is a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation.

With this acquisition, Murphy Sabah also takes over operatorship of the block, in which the remaining 20-percent equity is owned by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd, an exploration and production arm of PETRONAS, Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas corporation.

Block H, located in Malaysia's deepwater area, lies contiguous with Block K, which is also held by Murphy Sabah and PETRONAS Carigali. Block H is adjacent to Block G, where Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Limited recently announced a deepwater discovery.

Claiborne P. Deming, Murphy's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The combination of Blocks K and H gives Murphy Sabah access to over 6.4 million undrilled acres in one of the most promising deepwater turbiditic margin plays in the world. Our first objective will be to supplement the existing 2-D seismic data on Block H with a phased 3-D program that will begin in the second quarter of 2001, followed by a drilling program commencing later in the year.

The addition of Block H to our existing portfolio along with our recent oil discovery in West Patricia on Block SK 309 offshore Sarawak, is quickly making Malaysia a core area of upsteam activity."

Well, we have a feeling that before this whole deportation fiasco is over, there will be a hint of retaliation between all the countries involved in this diplomatic, or shall we say economic, deception. The Filipinos cannot rely on any U.S. government help because it will be contrary to their oil interest, and will side with the Murphy Oil exploration contract. The British government cannot be relied upon either because they are the ones who rigged the ownership title to Sabah and will be on the side of their fellow oil-producing country of Malaysia. The other oil-rich Muslim countries cannot be counted on either as they have their rich lifestyles to maintain, and cannot be bothered by the plight of their poor Muslim brothers - not sisters, as you very well know why - who can only claim ancestral title to Sabah with no money or power to back it up. Well, despair not as we believe in the power of collective resolve and the possibilities that the United Nations has to offer. It's not a guarantee, but it provides an avenue for letting the world help the poor Filipinos.

If the Filipinos maintain their snail-like sense of time, urgency, and justice, we regret it will be too late for them to get back Sabah! But, they will be proud they did it the Filipino way and can hand the memories down for other generations to be proud of. Cheers, Madame! You sure do like pain and suffering, and friendship!.

The ground work has already been laid. It’s just a matter of who will fire the first shot to ignite the oil bomb. This time it is Muslims against Muslims, and there’s nothing the wimpy Philippine government can, or is willing to do, about it! Even the essence of Islam and Allah cannot equal the power of oil. May Allah have mercy on the Prime Minister of Malaysia and his Petronas cahonas. We wonder how much stock he owns in Petronas, known or unknown? Well, why don't we let a concerned Malaysian expound on it - click here!

Please stay tuned to our additional findings. This is a continuing investigation, and we have a whole lot more to expose to you!

2004 Update: Murphy Oil Announces Field Development Plan Approval for Kikeh Area in Deepwater Malaysia

Murphy Oil Monday, September 13, 2004

Murphy Oil Corporation has announced that its subsidiary Murphy Sabah Oil Co., Ltd. and its partner, Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. (Carigali), have received approval of the Kikeh Area Field Development Plan (FDP) from Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS).

"We are extremely pleased to receive the FDP approval by PETRONAS," said Claiborne P. Deming, Murphy Oil Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer. "It is an outstanding accomplishment for all stakeholders to have FDP approval within two years of initial discovery. This timely approval illustrates the commitment and strong relationships between Murphy, our partner PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. and PETRONAS. Our target is for first oil in 2007, which is within five years from the initial discovery."

A production plateau of 120,000 gross barrels of oil per day is targeted within two years of first oil and is expected to continue at that level for six years. The FDP assumes a recoverable reserve base of over 400 million barrels and includes field architecture which will accommodate expansion. Project capital expenditures are projected to cost approximately US$1.4 billion.

Murphy, as operator, has an 80% working interest in Block K, which covers over four million acres. Carigali, a wholly owned exploration and production arm of PETRONAS, holds the remaining 20%.

source: http://www.oilvoice.com/Murphy_Oil_Announces_Field_Development_Plan_Approval_for_Kik/2570.htm

2007 Update: Murphy Oil Makes Malaysian Deepwater Gas Discovery

Murphy Oil Monday, January 29, 2007

Murphy Oil says that its Rotan #1 exploration well encountered significant natural gas pay in a single zone. The well reached a total depth of 7,024 feet and was drilled in 3,773 feet of water in Block H offshore Sabah, Malaysia.

"The results from Rotan #1 are very positive for this new play in Block H, and provide a strong beginning for us in 2007," said Claiborne P. Deming, Murphy Oil Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer. "This is our fourth exploration well in Block H and our first discovery there. We have always believed in the potential of deepwater Sabah and have maintained a high and consistent level of exploration activity since 1999. Success in this new play demonstrates the tremendous opportunity in the area on which to build," he further added.

Murphy, as operator, has an 80% working interest in Block H. Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd., a wholly owned exploration and production arm of Petronas, holds the remaining 20%.

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